Waiting
by SoulPieces
Summary: Upon this summit, his heart and physical body was not the only thing frozen. Time had seemed to stand still for him for three long years. Now, perhaps his wait was finally over. A novelization of the most chilling moment in my entire childhood. Cover not mine.


Snowflakes blew across the summit of the mountain, the chilling wind only adding to the terse atmosphere that had only grown in intensity the higher up the mountain he climbed. But they always said there was something special at the pinnacle of this mount, something that awaited only the very best. It was a sign of his true worth if he could make it up to the top of Mt. Silver and back down alive.

At first, he thought the challenge was simply the climb itself. The battles he'd gone through had been strenuous for him and his teammates. Several times he had been forced to leave the mountain and return another day, when he and his partners had healed and grown stronger. They took several hard beatings, several humiliating defeats, but they'd never given up. They had not come this far by giving up and resorting to the easy way of doing things.

He thought their reward would be to reach the top of the mountain. To say, "I made it up to the summit of Mount Silver." Perhaps there would even be a way he could carve his name – Ethan – into a stone or something. A way to mark his achievement.

But no, now he could see that was only training: training for what was to come; what was waiting for him at the summit.

He had a simple name – Red. But the name sent chills down everyone's spine. He was the silent, legendary hero and league champion who disappeared 3 years ago. He defeated the entire Elite Four and his longtime rival, took down a region-wide organization that was hell-bent on taking over the world and utilizing all that they could for their own nefarious plans, captured and tamed an angst-ridden lab creation gone wrong, and then cut all ties with his friends, family, and mentor. He hadn't been heard from in 3 years.

His eyes held no signs of his emotions, but instead gleamed with his intent to challenge. This was not a fight Ethan could back away from now. They had locked eyes – it was the trainer's creed. No words were exchanged between the two.

Of course, it's hard to speak when you're dead.

Ethan had heard the rumors. The hero and league champion had gone to Mount Silver to train, but had been struck down by the cold temperatures and constant blizzards. His ghost haunted this summit, trapped, dead, freezing, and waiting for the one who could finally set his spirit free.

But he had thought they were just that – rumors. And, even if they had been true, surely someone would have already freed the spirit of the once-champion in the three years that had passed.

Red saw potential in the trainer standing before him. He could see the 16 badges, the formidable team of six he'd built up, and the fiery spirit burning within. Maybe, after three years, he was finally to be set free. The young trainer held more potential than all those he had seen in three years.

He withdrew a red and white capsule at his side. With him, his companions had passed as well. They were all trapped up here, with nothing left to do but wait. He could feel their spirits itching to be set free. They had waited for so long. They may have passed from the physical world, but they still held their powers. They still held the ability to battle. And Red was honest and filled with integrity, even in death. He would never cheat in order to win; especially when liberation would come with defeat.

The younger boy took his cue from Red and withdrew his own capsule, containing one of his own partners. The wind seemed to die down, leaving them a cleared battle field. The natural weather would be assisting neither side in this fight. Red wanted it fair.

Looking up at the boy across from him, perched upon the topmost spire with an inhuman stillness, Ethan felt all his miniscule ten years. Red was supposedly only three years older, but no 13 year old should ever look so serious. So monotonous. So…cold.

Ethan truly felt like a child.

"I…I don't know why you want to battle me!" his voice broke as he called across the summit, showing his fear. When Red offered no answer, nor even a change in expression, he attempted another appeal. "I'm far from worthy of a battle with you!"

No words were spoken, and nothing about the spirit changed, but the younger boy felt the answer. _You fought your way here. That alone proves your worthiness as an opponent._

He gulped nervously, lungs aching from the lack of air so high above sea level. "Then…in that case…" he tapped the button in the middle of the capsule, enlarging it.

"I guess you've waited long enough."

* * *

**This is mostly just practice for myself. I never feel like I put in enough detailing words, and I felt like writing something serious and melancholy.**

**Also my boyfriend's never read anything I've written before so I figured I'd write up the most serious scene I ever experienced in my childhood. Reviews on the quality of this oneshot would be greatly appreciated. This is, like I said, a practice for me, and I'd love to be "graded" on it and hear other's opinions, so I know what else I can improve on.**


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